Violet wakes groggily in the moonlit courtyard of Riorson House at three in the morning, sitting on gravel beside Imogen, with Andarna protectively nearby vowing not to let anyone burn her. Brennan rushes down the steps and demands to know where Violet has been. She is disoriented and cannot remember the last twelve hours, her thoughts foggy and slow.

A rider named Weilsen delivers a grim report to Brennan: four riders and their dragons along with three elders have been murdered in the valley in the last few hours. Five riders are missing, including Lieutenant Garrick Tavis and a rider named Cardulo. Six eggs are also missing from the hatching ground. Weilsen blames Xaden Riorson for all of it, citing his dramatic display of power—the wall of shadows that swept across Draithus. The wards in Draithus are holding, but suspicion falls on Xaden for desiccations during the battle as well.

Violet discovers that her left arm has been splinted, and a gold ring set with an emerald—matching the stones from the Blade of Aretia—has been placed on her ring finger. A piece of parchment falls from her pocket bearing the seal of Dunne. Brennan reads it: it is an official blessing of Violet's legal, binding marriage to Xaden, issued by the head priestess of Dunne's temple. Violet is stunned, having no memory of any ceremony.

When Violet reaches down the bond to Xaden, there is nothing—either it is gone or he is too far away to feel. Tairn is also unreachable, in a deep recovery sleep after the battle. A note on the outside of the parchment in Xaden's handwriting reads: "Don't look for me. It's yours now." Violet realizes Xaden is gone.

Struggling with her foggy mind, Violet finally grasps that someone has tampered with her memory. She turns on Imogen and demands to know what she did. Imogen replies quietly: "What you asked me to." The chapter ends with Violet confronting the revelation that she herself apparently asked Imogen to erase or alter her memories of the missing twelve hours.